Kimi, As in You
by TheSixthStar
Summary: "I'm here to retrieve you." Hitsugaya was sent to bring her back to Soul Society - her who was deemed as a threat. But that day, he saved her soul. He taught her how to live, to laugh.. and how to love. HitsuOC
1. Prologue

**Kimi, as in you.**

One – Prologue

* * *

_Tap, tap, tap._ Hitsugaya travelled swiftly and softly, his feet tapping ever-so-lightly on the rooftops. The Captain Commander had given him a special mission, and he had to finish it fast. A flash of reiatsu – he could feel it, strong but gentle, not far away from his current position. _Hurry! _His internal voice commanded and he quickened his pace, the reiatsu was drawing close.

Lightning flashed, furiously splitting the sky into two. Thunder crashed, as if roaring out cries of pain. A light drizzle was starting to form. _Pitter patter, pitter patter. _

"_Hikari o kesu, Kagerui."_ The words were whispered so softly they could barely be heard in the incessant rain. Hitsugaya swore he had never heard such a calm way of releasing one's Zanpakuto. An orb of light was sent floating above the caster, and it was then that Hitsugaya was able to get a glimpse of the mysterious figure. Her deep blue hair rustled messily in the night breeze, and her silver eyes seemed to contain so much hidden emotions. Her Zanpakuto, which seemed to be a blade of black shadow, was clasped tightly with her two hands. The Hollow in front of her swarmed and let out a horrible cry. It was only then when Hitsugaya noticed that the shadow from her blade was seeping into the ground, disappearing and moving silently, quietly towards the target. The ground had cracked open, with the shadow splitting into countless numbers of tiny blades, piercing, stabbing and strangling the Hollow. It was a slow, painful death. The light had been used to cast a shadow in the night, and it also served as a distraction, misleading unintelligent hollows into thinking that the light was the main offensive. Then they would be proved wrong – by dying. _Pitter patter, pitter patter._ It was pouring now. The sky was crying – crying for the Hollow, crying for the cruelty of death, crying for the harshness of reality.

"Who are you?" The words escaped his mouth as he glanced at the Shinigami. She whipped her head around to look at him, at first hostile, but when she took in his appearance, her expression grew softer, but still alert and wary. She seemed to recognize that he was a Shinigami of high status, a Captain, to be exact.

"Kimi." She replied. "Iie, my name is Kimi, Taicho-san." She seemed as if she was used to people always misunderstanding the meaning of her name. "Then, Taicho-san, why are you here?"

"It's obvious, isn't it? I'm here to get you to Soul Society."

"Naze?"

"We have no record of you as a Shinigami, and your motive is unknown to us. Soul Society has deemed you as a possible threat, and therefore you shall be brought back for investigation. You're a soul, aren't you? You're supposed to go to Soul Society anyway." Hitsugaya stated.

When no reply came, he commanded, "Follow me."

Kimi followed him wordlessly – her thoughts were unknown to him, to him, she just looked like a child who lost something important to herself… Her face almost seemed emotionless, other than those eyes of sadness and fear.

"Taicho-san?" She suddenly spoke.

"What?" Hitsugaya had to shout over the noise of the rain.

"What is my purpose in living?"

Hitsugaya stopped walking. Without looking back, he replied, "I can't answer that question."

"I'm sorry. I asked a strange question." Her voice sounded even sadder than before, and Hitsugaya could not help but ask, "So then, what do you think your purpose in living is?"

"I don't know."

"Then find one. Find your purpose in living, and then you'll have the courage to live on and cherish your life."

Her eyes seemed to have lifted up as he spoke those words, and a small sparkle was regained. "Taichou-san, what is your name?"

"Hitsugaya Toushirou, but that's Hitsugaya-taicho to you."

_-End of Chapter One, Prologue_

* * *

_**Definitions:**_

Kimi – you *therefore in this situation her name is like a pun, when she says she's kimi, if you actually translate it, it's like saying "I'm you." And yes, Kimi is her name xD

Hikari o kesu, Kagerui – roughly translates to something like 'Kill the light, Shadowshine'

Iie – no

Naze – why

* * *

_**Author's Note:**_

Hello! I'm back to bleach fanfictioning. You know, this is probably quite similar to my other Bleach fanfiction, which I somehow completely lost inspiration to write about. I'm considering deleting that fanfiction, but maybe another time.

Yeah I'd really appreciate reviews thanks. You probably don't understand anything right now, but I'll explain things further in the next few chapters.


	2. Another World

**Kimi, As in You.**

Two – Another World

* * *

Kimi's facial expression was a mix of awe and fright as she stepped into Soul Society for the first time. To her surprise, though, it looked much like a normal village you would see in a rural area. Kimi had imagined a place more… heavenly, holy, a place where people respected their king as a God. After looking at the real Soul Society, she reflected back on her previous thoughts and deemed them foolish. _How stupid._ She reprimanded herself internally – after all, it wouldn't be good to let the whole world (especially this cold-hearted Captain) know about her embarrassing thoughts, would it?

For some reason, most people who caught sight of them had either went into their homes to hide, or glared angrily at them. _Did the people here despise their leaders? _Again, contrary to her previous opinion that the people would actually show respect to a person of such high status, they looked as if they detested the very people that brought them safety and maintained their very own lives.

"Hitsugaya-taicho!" An enormous hum – wait, was that thing even a human? – _Giant_ greeted the white-haired boy respectfully, then he looked directly in Kimi's direction. "And this girl is…?" "I suppose there will be hell butterflies sent around regarding this matter afterwards, sorry, Jidanbou-san, this is urgent." Hitsugaya said in a hurried manner, but not in a way a superior would command his subordinate, but as a friend who needed a favor. "Jidanbou-san" nodded quickly and began to lift the impossibly heavy-looking gate.

"Arigato, Jidanbou-san." Hitsugaya nodded and motioned impatiently for me to follow him, after noticing that she was staring blankly at "Jidanbou-san". "Ah… hai." Kimi said as she quietly trailed behind him, trying to take in as much information as she could about this place. It seemed strangely familiar to her, as if she had been here before – but of course, that was impossible. She swore she had never seen this world… The scenery had completely changed – it was full of tall, upright buildings, it looked much more urban. Kimi guessed that this was probably the place people with higher status, like Hitsugaya, lived in. As they walked into the central area, curious stares were thrown towards them, and Kimi just kept her head low throughout the journey, not wanting to arouse too much attention. The people were wearing what looked like a standard uniform, which was kind of boring, she mused. She noticed that she had failed to keep up with the Captain, who had purposely slowed down enough just to allow her to catch up with him, wordlessly. "Sorry." She mumbled as she ran forward to join him once again.

Soon after, they had reached what seemed to be the headquarters of Soul Society, as Hitsugaya briefly explained the situation to the two guards standing outside a huge door with the Japanese character meaning 'one' on it.

She caught bits of what they were saying. "Sorry, the Captain Commander has instructed us to refuse anyone for these four weeks… something very important… does not wish to be disturbed at any point of time." One guard said monotonously, looking straight at Hitsugaya. "Are you sure? This is a Level A priority mission." He said again, his features forming a frown. "Yes, we're very sorry for the inconvenience, Hitsugaya-taicho." They said as they bowed. "No, that's alright." He replied and rubbed the area in between his eyebrows.

"You'll get wrinkles if you keep doing that." Kimi commented in a soft voice. Hitsugaya raised a eyebrow at her and his hand returned to its position beside his body.

"Let's go."

Kimi wanted to question him about where exactly they were going, now that they had supposedly been refused from meeting the "Captain Commander", but decided against it when she saw his stressful expression. What could possibly be tormenting this… little boy this way? When that nickname floated into her mind, she wondered if she should try calling him that sometime…

"We're here." His two words broke her train of thought as she looked up, and gasped. It was a Japanese-styled house – no, _mansion_ would probably fit the image more. They walked on a trail of glistening pebbles, passing a huge fish pond filled with various animals on the way. He approached the main entrance of the mansion and he began to take off his outdoor shoes. "Ano… Hitsugaya-taicho, if you don't mind me asking, but what are we doing here?"

The white-haired Captain sighed yet again, and turned around to face her, "you'll be staying here with me until the Captain Commander decides to see us. You don't have anywhere to go either, do you?" Startled, she almost tripped and fell as she walked into the walkway of the mansion, "but wouldn't that—" "It's fine. I live alone, so there will be no one to disturb us. I would have preferred to live in a simple house of my own, but this was my grandfather's will, and therefore I intend to keep by it." He said, and then softly added, "It's the only thing I have left from him anyway." Kimi nodded solemnly, "I'm sorry, I brought up some uncomfortable things." He shook his head, but said nothing as he led her through the confusing walkways of the mansion. Her head was already threatening to explode with all the things that had happened in just a few hours – being brought to Soul Society to be judged for her mere existence, suddenly asked to live in the house of a total stranger…

"I hope you're fine with this." He said as he slid open an intricately decorated door with Sakura flowers adorning it. The room was simple, but it was as big enough for at least four people to sleep it, Kimi wondered how rich he actually was. A four-poster bed with silver rims was situated at the corner of the room, baby blue blankets with flower patterns neatly draped over the silky white bed sheets. There was a simple working table, and a comfortable-looking roller chair. For work, Kimi thought. Wardrobes were placed near the table, and there were also a few shelves stacked with informational books. A small, glass dining table and a sofa were also placed in the middle of the room, for relaxation. But what interested Kimi the most was the single wall scroll that was hung on the wall. She walked towards it and brushed her fingers across the edges of the wall scroll… "I'm sorry, it might be slightly dusty. No one has stayed in this room for quite a long time already." Hitsugaya commented, but seeing her absorbed by the wall scroll, he continued, "It was drawn personally by my grandmother, it's beautiful, isn't it? She had always had a flair for art." A distant smile appeared on his face as he said that. Kimi nodded absent-mindedly as she took in the full appearance of the piece of art. It dreamt of a land which was in the sky, surrounded by clouds and mist, where light showed down as a rainbow, where pure, white roses constantly dropped down from the tall, coniferous-shaped trees. An oasis, a personal paradise.

She tore her gaze away from the scroll and looked back at him, "Iie, I'm grateful that I have somewhere to stay for the time being." _Before the day of my judgment,_ she mentally added. "Hmm… glad to see that you're fine with the room, then."

"One more thing – I think you'll probably like this, there are a few rooms which have this view and since they are all unoccupied, I figured that you would probably like to stay in one." He slid open another door on the other side of the room, to reveal a platform with a wooden swing. The swing seemed old but had an antique aura about it. Below the platform was yet another fish pond. But what amazed her more was the stunning scenery that she could see from there. It was sunset, and the orange and red light shone onto the water, as if highlighting a glorious moment of the day. In return, the water reflected it clearly, back into the sky, and also into the eyes of the human beings who had the chance of seeing it. Kimi secretly thought it resembled some kind of movie scene.

Seeing that Kimi was mostly comfortable in her temporary home, Hitsugaya reminded her, "you can take this time to settle down. Meet me at the dining room in about two hours for dinner. Until then, goodbye." "Goodbye." She bowed to his back view and sat down absent-mindedly on her bed. Her head hit the pillow and she decided to spend some time digesting everything that had happened so far. She had completely no idea of what the future held for her – if Soul Society would deem her as a threat and nullify her very existence, or that they would accept her as a normal soul, and allow her to lead a normal life, whether high status or low status. She decided that she would just let nature take its course, just as she had always done. _Always… when was always…?_ That was the last thought that drifted across her mind before she slipped into another world.

* * *

"Kimi… Oi Kimi!" A voice was shouting at her, two pairs of hands were shaking her gently. What was happening? Her mind was clouded as she opened her tired eyes, only to see a familiar face looking at her with an annoyed expression. "Did you forget about dinner?"

"Shimatta!" She abruptly sat up, her forehead colliding with his in the process, "Ah, gomen, I fell asleep and then I didn't take note of the time and now I've injured your forehead." She lifted one hand and placed it against his forehead – it was warm, or was it just that her hand was cold?

Her hand rested on that exact spot for a few seconds. "It's okay, I'm fine." He pushed her hand away gently, walking to the small dining table and placing a tray of food there. "Your dinner. When you're done, just bring leave the tray near the area where your door is. They will be taken away later on by some servants. They come occasionally at points of time in the day to do various household chores, if you happen to meet one, don't mind them, they will just be doing their job – nothing more. Well then, have some more rest, we'll talk tomorrow."

"Wait!" She clasped his wrist, stopping him as he was walking away, "I'm fine with talking now."

He looked at her and sighed, giving in, "Alright."

* * *

"I thought you had already eaten." Kimi said sheepishly as they sat facing each other on her small dining table. "I don't really eat that much at night, sometimes I even skip dinner." He said as he nonchalantly consumed a piece of fresh, raw salmon. _Well, that explains why you're so… petite_, a secret thought flitted past her mind, and then she realized, she too, was around his height anyway – but that was acceptable, wasn't it? She was a girl and he was a boy, boys were supposed to be taller than girls…

"Tell me more about yourself." Hitsugaya started the conversation with a casual enquiry.

"Taicho-san, don't you think you should introduce yourself more elaborately before you ask me that question?" She gracefully lifted the tea cup and took a sip of the tea, an ironic action as she remarked defiantly. Hitsugaya mentally noted that her way of drinking tea was fairly sophisticated – a sign that she probably was not from a normal family before she landed in… this state. He cleared his throat and said, not at all fazed by her attitude and began, "As you already know, my name is Hitsugaya Toshiro, and mind you, I prefer people to address me properly by my title, and not by my name or by any given nickname." He paused at that point as he seemed to be remembering something, "I'm the Captain of the Tenth division, and as for my age… I doubt there's a need for you to know about that."

Kimi nodded thoughtfully as she decided to answer his question, satisfied with his reply. "Kimi, fourteen. Do not question me for my last name, I do not have one." Her expression hardened as she said that, but she simply brushed it off and ate yet again other piece of Kimchi – she seemed to take a liking to the dish. "I tend to like dark places more, which explains why I'm not going to light the candle in my room any time soon."

She shifted her gaze from the definitely delicious food to the apparently cold captain. Only to notice that he was nibbling away on a piece of watermelon – not only that, but his face carried an expression of… bliss?

Kimi's soft chuckles caused Hitsugaya to raise an eyebrow and look at her, "Is anything wrong?"

Kimi shook her head quickly, composing herself. "It's just that you look so happy just by eating a piece of watermelon. Just like…" she struggled to find the correct choice of words, "Just like a little kid."

Hitsugaya dropped his the piece of watermelon at that point, a vein popping on his head. "Do not call me a little kid." He spat, slowly and deliberately. Kimi nodded and raised both of her hands up as a sign of surrendering, and continued to eat her dinner.

"So, we might as well start the proper interrogation now. Why were you in that town killing hollows, and why do we have no record of you being a Shinigami at all?"

Kimi seemed as if she had suddenly lost her appetite and she put down her chopsticks, sighing. "I don't know." She seemed as if she had resigned to fate, "I… don't have any memories."

Hitsugaya looked at her, she looked slightly flustered. He knew she was hiding something – but he decided not to probe any further, the actual probing would probably be done by the Captain Commander himself, seeing that he had personally instructed him to go retrieve Kimi. For now, he would let it slide. He sighed, as he knew that every single human definitely had one or two things that they would like to keep to themselves – not that they always succeeded though. In this case, Hitsugaya thought it was highly unlikely that Kimi would get away without revealing what she was so reluctant to say – the Captain Commander was merciless, he cared for the safety of Soul Society as a whole, and a sole individual stood no chance to stop him from ensuring the sustainability of this world – even if it meant that that individual's existence had to be eradicated.

"About your Zanpakuto…" He said, easily changing the subject to make Kimi feel more at ease.

"Ah, you mean Kagerui." Kimi said, glad that they didn't need to talk about that subject anymore, "it's… hard to explain in exact terms, so why don't I show you instead?" She stood up and placed a hand on her Zanpakuto, "Hikari o kesu, Kagerui." The blade of the Zanpakuto transformed into black light, and actually up close, you could clearly see the black light swirling around the shape of the blade… like a black hole. The hilt of the Zanpakuto had turned black, with a sleek, black ribbon encrusted with black crystals hanging from it. A blue orb of light floated above her head, circling the area in which Kimi and Hitsugaya occupied. The Zanpakuto seemed to regard Hitsugaya as its opponent. He watched as the black light seeped into the ground, and then disappeared. Unexpectedly, the door which led to the platform was slid open, and Hitsugaya saw the black light moving towards them. "I controlled it such that it rose when there was no floor boarding above it – didn't want to destroy the house, you know." She told him, "It kills brutally, not that I will it to do so… In fact, I would much prefer a simpler, quicker, and less painful way off finishing off an enemy. The taking away of lives is a sin, even if that form of life is a Hollow. It is quite understood that Hollows did not willingly become the way they were, it was just a cruel string of Fate that brought them into their plight." She seemed almost sad as she uttered, "_And therefore we have all sinned._"

Hitsugaya was speechless – he did not know what to say to that statement, and decided that no answer was probably the best answer. "Anyway, that's how Rui works, she lurks in the darkness, making the enemy start to guess where she will surface once again… Sometimes it even drives the opponent to the point of insanity. She makes use of darkness, light, but most of all, the fear that exists in every soul." She finished the introduction of her Zanpakuto and it turned back into a normal sword again, she then sheathed it and asked him, "What about your Zanpakuto, Hitsugaya-taicho?"

"You will see in time, but not now." He said, because he knew he would probably be asked to fight the blue-haired Shinigami in order to test the level of her abilities when the Captain Commander was interrogating her. Kimi had a frustrated expression worn on her face as she sat down again, exasperated at the lack of answers she got in comparison to the abundance of answers she gave to him. "Well, then, I suppose I should get goi—" He turned his attention to her only to find her already asleep, a peaceful look on her place as her head was rested on the table. He sighed. This girl is impossible, who would be able to fall asleep in such a short span of a few seconds? Nevertheless, he walked over to her bed and took a pillow and the blanket, gently lifting her head onto it, and covering her with the blanket. The nights could get cold often in Soul Society. _"Goodnight."_ He whispered to the air and carefully, silently leaving the room.

* * *

_Haru ni saku hana  
Natsu hirogaru sora yo  
Kokoro no naka ni  
Kizamarete kirameku_

_Asa ni furu ame  
Mado o tozasu hi ni mo  
Mune ni afureru hikari wa  
Kumo no ue_

_Yorokobi kanashimi  
Subete idaite aruite iru  
Watashi no te to  
Kimi no te o  
Tsuyoku tsunagu mono_

_Aki wa mizube ni  
Fuyu kozue ni hisomu  
Sekai no oku no  
Kagirinai yasashisa_

_Yoru ga kuru tabi  
Inori o sasageyou  
Ashita kuru hi o  
Shizuka ni mukaeyou_

_Watashi o michibiku  
Tooi tooi yobigoe yo  
Hohoemu you ni  
Utau you ni  
Hibiku kaze no oto_

_Yorokobi kanashimi  
Subete idaite aruite iru  
Watashi no te to  
Kimi no te o  
Tsuyoku tsunagu mono_

_-End of Chapter Two, Another World_

* * *

**Omake**

**Note: What happens in Omakes do not actually happen in the story itself, it is just a form of entertainment for the author – and probably for you too.**

Kimi shifted her gaze from the definitely delicious food to the apparently cold captain. Only to notice that he was nibbling away on a piece of watermelon – not only that, but his face carried an expression of… bliss?

And then the whole image was ruined when Hitsugaya started to spit out the seeds onto random parts of the floor like some sort of gun. The string of seeds seemed to be endless – and Kimi found herself wondering if the speed was actually within human limits.

"Hitsugaya-taicho! Stop littering! The fine for littering has recently been raised to $300! Do you know how much is that? Do you know? Moreover, you're doing harm to the environment and causing inconvenience to people when you litter. World statistics show that 90% of the people in the world blah blah blah, blah blah blah, blah blah…"

Hitsugaya swore that after that day, he would never litter again… ever. Lest he face the wrath of the long-winded monster.

_-End of Chapter Two: Omake_

_**Definitions:**_

* * *

Arigato – thanks

Hai – yes

Iie – no

Gomen – sorry (informal)

Ano – similar meaning to 'eto…', it's like saying 'uhm…'

Shimatta – japanese version of 'oh crap!'

_(The song lyrics above is from "Ashita kuru hi", which means "The Coming Day, Tomorrow"__ by __Hanazawa Kana as Hanato Kobato. Taken from the anime, "Kobato.")_

* * *

_**Author's Note:**_

Yoh! :D I'm really obsessed with the writing of this fanfiction, and that explains why the long chapter (to me it's long okay! I've never written such a long chapter before heehee.) along with an Omake. You'll probably realize that the story plot for this ff is like super similar to my ByaOC one, but that's because I've adapted the story plot from there to here, I'm probably not going to continue the other ff anymore. Also, yeah I feel kinda sad that there's only 1 review so far, but somehow I feel very happy writing the story itself, so I shall continue nonetheless!

Hope you have enjoyed this chapter! (:


	3. Wandering

**Kimi, As in You.**

Three – Wandering

* * *

"…mi-sama? Kimi-sama? It's already noon, Kimi-sama."

Kimi sat up abruptly, wiping her bleary eyes with one hand and supporting her spinning head with another – that was what sleeping for twelve whole hours after a completely mind-boggling and tiring day. It took a while for all the information she had obtained yesterday to rush back into her mind, making her headache even worse than it already was. She managed, however, to squint at the person who was standing at her door. It was a servant. Didn't Hitsugaya-taicho previously say that the servants didn't have much interaction with him? She sighed and asked the first thing that came to her mind, "where's Hitsugaya-taicho?"

"Hitsugaya-sama has already left for his office at the 10th squad to carry out his daily work. His daily schedule usually begins at 7am, therefore we would usually come into the house to start cleaning from 8am to 1pm. I'm terribly sorry for any disturbance caused, Kimi-sama."

"No, that's okay." Kimi replied as she got up and started making the bed.

"Kimi-sama, there is no need for you to do so. My fellow servants and I will do it later, it will not be appropriate for a guest to be taking care of these trivial things. For now, please change into the clothes that Hitsugaya-sama has provided for you in the wardrobe. Kimi-sama, you should proceed to the 6th squad office soon, Hitsugaya-sama is probably waiting for you. Well then, I shall be leaving the room now. Take your time to change, I'll be back a while later so you don't have to worry." The servant said and gave a quick, tired smile.

"Would you tell me your name?"

The servant paused for a moment and blankly blinked at Kimi. She must've thought it was weird for someone who was a guest in the mansion to ask for a mere servant's name, Kimi pondered. "Aimi. Tsukiyomi Aimi. Have a nice day, Kimi-sama." The sakura-adorned door was slid closed.

Kimi sighed and absent-mindedly opened the wardrobe, only to be flabbergasted by the sight in front of her. _How long did he think I was going to stay here?_ The thought echoed in her mind as her brain tried to register the sight that was in front of her eyes. The whole wardrobe was literally stuffed to the brim with clothes for almost every type of occasion – formal dresses, nightgowns (what in the world?), casual home wear. She didn't know, however, what to wear to go and meet him at the office. Just then, she spotted a yellow, crumpled post-it clumsily stuck onto the mirror of the wardrobe.

_For today, just wear a normal Yukata, then come and meet me at the 10__th__ squad barracks. Don't get lost, ask for directions if you don't know the way, I'm sure someone would be able to help you. From, Hitsugaya (that's Hitsugaya-taicho to you!)_

She quickly browsed through the horde of clothes and found something she fancied. A simple, white silk Yukata with blue and purple butterflies intricately embroidered onto it. White had always been her favourite colour. _How ironic_, she thought, compared to her very own sleek black Zanpakuto, which was supposed to show the true desire of her soul. Did she desire to be merciless and heartless towards other people then?

She then decided to leave her straight, waist-length hair as it was, and clutching her Zanpakuto tightly in her hand, she slid open the door and left the premises of the mansion.

* * *

She looked down throughout her way wandering quite aimlessly around the confusing passageways of Seireitei, so as to attract less attention as possible. But it was mostly futile, of course, since everyone else was wearing black (and boring) Shinigami uniforms, while she was conspicuously wearing a pretty, white Yukata. Kimi understood the fact that Hitsugaya-taicho would've provided her with one to allow her to blend in if he had the ability to do so, but as she was not an actual approved Shinigami yet, she couldn't wear the Shinigami uniform… that did, in fact, made her feel like of excluded, but she knew that there wasn't a choice – her life wasn't one with a lot of choices to choose from, and moreover, she didn't even—

Bump. "Ah, sumimasen." She apologized as she looked up to see a very, very weird (and stalker)-looking man staring down at her with curious eyes. His face was painted black and white, and Kimi found herself wondering if he was human at all. His clothes were… some sort of eccentric and he had this frightening, maddened expression on his face. "_Araaaa?_ What have we got here? I've never seen you before, _young lady_." His finger trailed the contours of her face, making her shiver in fright, "you look like you'd be a _gooooood_ experiment subject." And then he flashed a smile, which only managed to freak her out more and she bowed, screamed, then subsequently ran off quickly, wishing that she wouldn't bump into any more weird people.

Bump. Oh no. She made a silent prayer in her heart, hoping that this time it would be a kind—no, normal, all she needed was a normal person who could guide her to the 6th squad office. "Ojou-chan? Daijiobu?" A kind-looking _(oh thankfully)_ old man wearing a pink cape and a straw hat asked her. She was going to reply that she was fine, oh totally great, but then she realized that she wasn't fine – she was freaked out about the encounter and she was completely lost. "Iie, not really. I'm lost." And scared, her heart screamed, but she wasn't just going to tell a stranger that. "Sou desuka. Hai, wakarimashita. Where do you want to go, ojou-chan?"

"10th squad office. Arigato Gozaimasu."

"Okay then. Nanao-chan, let's take a detour and help this ojou-chan find her way, shall we?" He looked to his side. It was only then that she realized there was another lady standing beside him, her spectacles were propped up onto the high bridge of her nose and her hair was tied up in a neat bun. She nodded and then gave an unexpectedly warm smile, "I'm Ise Nanao, Vice-captain of the 8th division. And this sloppy-looking, lazy man here is Kyouraku Shunsui, Captain of the 8th squad, even if he dosen't look like it."

Kimi couldn't suppress her surprised look as she glanced at the Captain of the 8th squad again – as Nanao-san had put it, he didn't really look like a captain. "Ah, hai. My name is Kimi, just Kimi. I'm not exactly an approved Shinigami yet so I don't know what my status is either." She smiled sheepishly and introduced herself promptly, making sure that she didn't leak out too much information about herself.

"Kimi-chan? Kimi, as in you?" Kyouraku-taicho looked amused.

"Hai, sou desu."

"Naraba, Kimi-chan, you looked kind of frightened when you bumped into me, did something bad happen?"

"No, not really." She lied, and was really tempted to blurt out "_except for the fact that I was just freakishly 'observed' by some kind of mad scientist who wanted to take me as his 'experiment subject'_", "Mou heiki desu."

"Okay then, we probably should get going. Taicho, I'm warning you, you better not take this as a chance to escape your work and go to drink again." She gave him a light smack on the head as they led the way.

* * *

"We're here." They stopped in front of a door that had the word 'ten' printed in Kanji.

"Thank you for your help, it was a pleasure meeting you." She bowed respectfully once again as they waved their goodbyes.

"No problem, Kimi-chan. It's nothing for such a cute ojou-chan like you. You are always welcome to drop by the 8th squad office." He said, grinning cheekily, only to be hit, this time harder, by his Vice-captain on the head once again. "Goodbye Kimi-san."

She watched their back views growing smaller and smiled to herself. At least now she had met a few friends. _And one pervert. _But she pushed the thought out of her mind. She was about to enter when she heard voices from the inside.

"Ahhhh~ But taicho, can't we not do it today?" A really drunk-sounding voice whined.

"No, Matsumoto, you've been delaying for weeks, and I can't stand it anymore. It's going to kill me!" Hitsugaya-taicho sounded really, really impatient.

Kimi gulped and hoped that what she wasn't hearing what she thought she was hearing.

"Taicho~~~"

"No means no, I said I want it done now!"

And with that, Kimi accidently pushed on the sliding doors of the 10th squad, causing them to open and allowing someone from the outside to see what was going on inside. Kimi immediately covered her eyes, her face growing hot and said, "Ah, I'm sorry to have intruded! I'm leaving now! Gomenasai!"

"… what are you talking about, Kimi?" Hitsugaya's amused voice caused Kimi to make a gap between her fingers, peeping through it with one eye. Until she realized that Hitsugaya-taicho was sitting in front of his desk looking pissed off and entertained by the sight of her like that at the same time. Whereas there was another strawberry blonde, with *cough* very revealing clothes (who knew that someone could do that with the boring old Shinigami uniform?), was slouching lazily on the couch, looking like she'd just been hit by a thousand trucks in a row.

Kimi awkwardly put down her hands and stammered, "Uhhhhm, playing hide and seek?" She flashed her best, white-teethed smile and waited for him to quickly change the subject.

"Anyway," he cleared his throat, allowing her to finally relax from her tense position, "I've been waiting for you for quite awhile Kimi, but then I came to a conclusion that you had probably overslept, then got lost, and just those two things would take up a lot of time, which explains why you only arrived at 3pm."

"Taicho~ who's this pretty little ojou-chan? Did you finally get yourself a girlfriend?" "Matsumoto" grinned and teased him.

"No, Matsumoto, and for goodness sake, you need to do your job as a Vice-captain! Do the paperwork, damn it! And I don't have as much time as before to settle every single little thing for you, Matsumoto. I've got to handle Kimi's matter too, so you're going to have to do something about this stack of work yourself. Goodbye Matsumoto, and I seriously expect it to be done when I come back here at midnight." A vein popped on Hitsugaya's head as he grabbed his Zanpakuto, a black velvet bag, and stormed out of the room, motioning for Kimi to follow after him.

"Well, that was… unexpected." Kimi gulped and spoke, breaking the uncomfortable silence as Hitsugaya-taicho brought them towards who-knew-where. "No, it wasn't unexpected. It happens on a daily basis, that lazy-assed Matsumoto." He grumbled, Kimi smiled internally – he really was like a grump little kid who got mad after not getting his toy.

"Anyway, we're going to the training grounds now. You're going to show me how well you can fight, Kimi. The battle with the Hollow you had in the real world that day was too brief, it's hard to find out more information about your standard. Nonetheless, there's always room for improvement, and you should know that the examination held by Captain Commander will not be easy. You need to train, and it will be all the more better if you train with me, since I'm a Captain. This will give you a rough idea on what you will be facing when the Captain Commander decides to see you." Hitsugaya-taicho said with a stern face.

All Kimi could do was nod and think about the days ahead of her. She knew that they were going to be tough, but what she was worried about was that – would these days continue to go on? Would the days of having a purpose, having people to interact with continue? Because she knew that if she didn't succeed in the meeting with the Captain Commander, that might very well be the end of her short, memory-lacking life.

"Change into this." Hitsugaya-taicho said as he passed her that black velvet bag. "You wouldn't want to be training in a Yukata."

And this time, Kimi agreed with him.

* * *

What she _didn't _expect was that she had to wear something like _this_. A bareback vest with ribbons that started off from the base of her neck, then made a criss-cross to the back of her neck, forming a graceful butterfly knot, with the ends travelling all the way down to near the ends of her hair. Black, skin-tight knee-length tights were wrapped around her legs and her hair was loosely tied into a ponytail with a black ribbon, strands of fringe escaped from the tie and hang around her face.

"So, why this?" She pointed at herself with an annoyed expression once she emerged of the changing room.

"This is the specialized clothing that most women in Seireitei wear when they're doing vigorous training." Hitsugaya-taicho replied matter-of-factly.

She wondered if he was really telling the truth – usually uniforms for women would wrap them up like a mummy so as to not 'reveal skin' and cause the attire to be 'inappropriate'. But this was an entirely different story. Well, Seireitei was an entirely different place, so Kimi guessed that she should prepare herself for surprises like these in the future – that is, if she had any future at all. The thought seemed to never cease to haunt her.

"Then, taicho-san, don't you have to change into training clothes too?" Kimi gave a sly smirk.

"There'll be no need to. You won't even touch me. And I won't even need to release my Zanpakuto." Hitsugaya taunted her, probably enjoying the miffed expression worn on her face.

"Hikari o kesu, Kagerui." A soft whisper blown in the wind and she promptly disappeared, flash-stepping around Hitsugaya-taicho. She allowed her Zanpakuto to slowly seep into the ground as she did so, buying time for it to reach the ground near Hitsugaya. Of course, she knew that it wasn't going to hit – she wanted to see how Hitsugaya would respond to her attacks. She needed a plan.

"Too obvious." Hitsugaya-taicho said as he dodged it easily, the shadow breaking through the ground, creating a nasty hole at the position in which Hitsugaya was standing just a few seconds ago. He flash-stepped towards the position Kimi was in the blink of an eye, giving no mercy and aiming for a strike immediately. Kimi barely managed to counter-attack when he stroke. A loud clash of steel echoed throughout the vast, grass-floored space. Kimi clenched her teeth and fought harder against Hitsugaya's experienced sword. The dark shadow around her blade began to waver. It soon became a battle of strength – to see who would last longer and overcome the other. Hitsugaya seemed to face little difficulty trying to keep up with holding her back. Kimi narrowed her eyes at him and pressed even harder. A bead of sweat trailed the side of her face. Kimi knew that she was going to lose this fight if she didn't quickly think of something – she didn't have enough strength and stamina to fight a Captain-ranked Shinigami yet.

_Escape!_ The thought echoed in her mind. She carefully manipulated the shadow in her blade while trying to keep up with the strength Hitsugaya was exerting on her. Black wings sprouted from her back and allowed her to glide with the wind to another spot distanced quite far apart from Hitsugaya, the ribbon in her hair fluttering while she did so. They disappeared shortly after, though. Kagerui couldn't be used to multi-task – it was either used to attack, or to escape and defend. Not both at the same time. It would be too hard. Hitsugaya looked surprised, just for a moment though, until he regained his composure and began to stride towards her slowly. Kimi was already gasping for breath, while HItsugaya seemed not at all fazed. Kimi wondered how long the fight had been. It felt as if it had started a few hours before, but she knew that it had probably only been half an hour at maximum. "Bunkatsu." Her blade began to split into a thousand shadowed shards. "Lock on." And as she stared straight into Hitsugaya's eyes, the blades began to charge towards him, from all directions.

Hitsugaya seemed startled, realizing he didn't have enough time to dodge, he sighed. "Souten ni zase, Hyourinmaru." All it took was those four words, for him to freeze every single shard that had been skillfully aimed at him. That only left Kimi staring at him with a defeated expression on her face, as she fell to the floor, exhausted. Her hair was surprisingly still quite presentable, although more strands of loose hair had escaped and now stuck to the side of her face. He was right – it wasn't much of a fight at all. But at least she had forced him to release his Zanpakuto.

"Damn. At least now we know you'll at least be a seated officer, that is, if you ever get accepted as a Shinigami." Hitsugaya flashed a quick, but rare smile as he sheathed his sword. He reached out a hand and said, "Come on. That's enough for today." After a moment's hesitation, she grasped his hand and pulled herself up, "I made you release your Zanpakuto." Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow at her and commented, "Yes, you did. Hyourinmaru is known as the most powerful Ice-type Zanpakuto in Seireitei. Also, your Zanpakuto's ability that you used just now… 'bunkatsu', was it? It reminds me of someone else's Zanpakuto… Kuchiki-taicho, to be specific. You'll get to see his Zanpakuto in time." Kimi nodded briefly and wondered if she would ever get to see that "Kuchiki-taicho". From Hitsugaya-taicho's respectful tone when he spoke about him, she guessed that he was probably someone of high status – someone who Hitsugaya-taicho acknowledged as a person that was worthy of fighting.

"Well, that's enough for today then. I need to get back to doing my paperwork since my wreck of a Vice-captain is probably not doing anything but slouching on the sofa at the moment. It's the second day you've been here, so you might want to take a look around the premises of Seireitei. Don't get lost." He said as he waved a hand dismissively, turning around and walking towards the 10th squad office with a tired expression on his face. Kimi wondered if this was the boring schedule that took place every single day of his life. If it was so, then he definitely needed some excitement – badly.

"Hitsugaya-taicho! Don't overwork yourself!" She shouted to him through the hallway. He didn't turn back, but said, "Arigato, _kodomo._" It took a moment for her new nickname to be drilled into her mind. _What? Kodomo?_ She resisted the temptation to roll her eyes. Of course, she was fourteen, but the nickname was more befitting for him, in her opinion, but she sighed and decided not to retort.

She decided to take a leisurely, aimless stroll around Seireitei. After all, she had free time and getting to know this place better wouldn't hurt, would it? Everyone else seemed to be in a rush, walking briskly to their next destinations in their black Shinigami uniform. _The people here really needed a break once in a while._

The scenery pretty much stayed the same: concrete structure, office, concrete structure, office. That is, until she reached an open space. She hopped off the wooden platforms and walked around the space, towards the single, Sakura tree in the middle of it. She smiled. Sakura trees were pretty, pink – the colour that many girls liked, although she admitted she liked blue and purple more than that, pink was definitely a decent colour. "Kimi… dare?" Someone spoke and broke her train of thought. She briefly glanced at the person who spoke, mistaking the informal way of saying 'you' for her name. It was a woman. With black hair and depthless-looking violet eyes. "Kimi." She gave a small smile, then looking at the confused expression on the woman's face, she sighed and explained, "My name is Kimi. Yes, Kimi, as in you." The petite woman nodded, understanding as she replied, "I'm Rukia, from the 13th squad. Nice to meet you. I've never seen you here before, are you a newcomer?"

"Iie, I'm just someone who has yet to become an official Shinigami."

"So, you're from the Shinigami Academy, I suppose?"

"Mm, iie… it's not really very convenient to explain…" Kimi felt bad, but she thought she shouldn't talk about her situation until she had met with the Captain Commander.

Rukia shook her head. "That's okay. Everyone has their own secrets."

Kimi appreciated that thought and she decided that she liked Rukia – she looked nice enough, and she didn't pry. She was just being friendly. "Don't you have work to do? Everyone here seems to be rushing for time."

Rukia shook her head and laughed – it was a low, but pleasant-sounding laughter. "I'm currently free, and have no missions to run, if that is what you mean. What about you?"

"I'm free too, at least until sunset. I haven't really seen a lot of Seireitei yet, and so I've been wandering around."

"Ah… how about a tour then? I can take you to the places that I've found while wandering around Seireitei. They're pretty nice, and some of them are private. Sometimes I can spend a whole day sitting at those places, relaxing and thinking. It helps calm the mind."

Kimi nodded enthusiastically, and internally thanked the heavens for Rukia's kindness.

"Well, let's go then."

* * *

Rukia had brought her to a lot of places, places like her office, the meeting place at which they would hold events – which were although rare, but very fun and entertaining, she explained – but the place which struck her most was a cliff. Sougyoku Hill, it was called.

"You know, I was once almost executed here, ironically." Rukia chuckled. Kimi wore a shocked expression on her face and looked at her – _how was it possible that she carried such a calm expression as she talked about that?_ As if answering her internal question, Rukia continued, "But this place reminds me of my friends, who were willing to sacrifice everything that they had – their home, their family – in order to save me. Well, he had put it is 'paying back a favour', but I knew it was more than that. Ichigo had never been the one who was good at expressing his feelings anyway. He always, _always_ scowled. The times in which you could see him actually smile were rare – but he cared. I knew he cared." Her tone had a tinge of fondness as she said that.

_Ichigo, huh?_ That was a really funny name for a guy. Strawberry. But then, Kimi herself had a weird name too, so she couldn't blame him for that either. Rukia seemed to like him a lot, so he had to be a good person. Again, for the second time that day, Kimi wondered if she would be able to meet another person. This time, it was "Ichigo".

"Thank you for sharing all that with me, Rukia-san, I hope that I'll get to see Ichigo-san one day. For now, I have to go. It's already sunset and I bet Hitsugaya-taicho would scold me again if I was late for dinner."

"No problem, Kimi-san. Eh? Hitsugaya-taicho?" She raised an inquisitive eyebrow, but Kimi was already running towards the mansion. "I'll tell you another time!"

* * *

But Kimi arrived in the mansion only to find the servant, who she remembered was Aimi, tell her that Hitsugaya-taicho was "busy and staying at his office to finish the paperwork". Kimi sighed and decided to join him at his office. She would probably be able to help him with a little of that paperwork, and she was sure that he certainly wouldn't have minded a late-night snack. "But before that, I have to bathe." She muttered to herself as she stepped into the bathroom, to find it already filled to the brim with hot water, with flower petals floating on the clear surface. Kimi mentally reminded herself to thank Aimi.

* * *

"Hitsugaya-taicho?" She said as she knocked on the door. No response. She frowned and slid open the door slightly, peeking in to see whether he was inside.

A smile crept up onto her lips as she saw him fast asleep, with his face plastered onto the table. _He had to be really, really sleepy to fall asleep in that uncomfortable position_, Kimi mused, _better not wake him up from his beauty sleep, then. _She searched around the room and found a thin blanket, which would have had to do as she didn't have anything else to keep him warm, and carefully draped it over him. Then, she took up a piece of the paperwork and squinted, trying to read it in the dark. Not quite understanding much of the tiny text on the sheet of paper, she decided that she couldn't do much to help with it either. _At least he'd have something to eat if he woke up in the middle of the night._

_Thud._ She left a nicely wrapped bento on the side of his working table, and turned to leave.

_Creaaaaaaaaaaaak._ _Wait – that wasn't supposed to happen!_ Kimi silently groaned as she realized that she had stepped on a wooden plank that definitely wasn't in its top condition. She heard Hitsugaya-taicho stir behind her. _Great, just great._

"Who's there? Matsumoto?" His voice was hoarse from sleeping.

Kimi turned around, blushing sheepishly. "Iie, Hitsugaya-taicho, it's me."

"Kimi? Why are you here?" He sat up and then looked at the thin blanket, then at the bento on his desk, and gave a long, tired sigh. "Thank you." He said so softly that she almost hadn't caught it.

She smiled and she thought she saw him tilt his head away slightly.

"Well then, I suppose you haven't eaten either. Want to join me on the rooftop?"

"Eeh? On the rooftop?" She wondered if he had made a mistake.

"Nights on the rooftop are really cooling, you know."

* * *

Hitsugaya looked very happy at the sight of his favourite fruit, and started on it immediately. Kimi laughed softly as she nibbled on an onigiri. "I told them to pack more watermelon, since I thought you'd like to have it after a stressful, brain-killing day of work."

Hitsugaya gave a grunt, with two pieces of watermelon stuffed into his mouth, Kimi guessed that he meant "thank you", and replied, "you're welcome."

And then a cold breeze blew past. Hitsugaya looked as if nothing had happened, but Kimi was perpetually on the brink of freezing. "If this is what you mean by 'cooling', I don't want to know what your standard of 'cold' would be." She said as she rubbed her shivering arms and curled up, looking as if she was trying to become a ping-pong ball.

Hitsugaya then flash-stepped away, only to reappear a few seconds later with the thin blanket clutched in his hands. He then gently laid it across her and went back to sitting beside her on the rooftop again. "Arigato." She smiled for the millionth time that day, hiding her face in the warm blankets and blowing warm breath into her hands.

They continued to eat in silence, with Hitsugaya continuing to munch on watermelons. The silence wasn't awkward, though, it was more of the calm, peaceful silence.

It was only awhile later when the sun peeked out, seemingly bathing the whole of Seireitei in its glorious light. It was a breathtaking sight. "Hey, Kimi, look at the sunse—" He stopped when he saw her on the brink of dozing off, her head almost touching his shoulder a few times. He rolled his eyes, and Kimi's head just landed on his shoulder. Her face carrying a peaceful expression, her breaths slow and steady.

_It's been the second time she's fallen asleep without me knowing now_, he thought.

But he didn't push her away.

* * *

_**Definitions:**_

Sumimasen – sorry

Ara – well…

Ojou-chan – young lady

Daijiobu – are you alright? (as a question) / I'm okay. (as a statement)

Wakarimashita – i've understood

Hai – yes

Iie – no

Sou desu – i see

Sou desu ka – is that so?

Naraba – then

Mou heiki desu – i'm alright now

Kodomo – little child

* * *

_**Author's Note:**_

Hello! I'm back again with Chapter 3! :D

I have completely no idea why I'm so enthusiastic in writing this even though there are few comments. But I've enjoyed writing it very much. My longest chapter so far xD

A big thank you to snickerslol4 for consistently reading my fanfiction (: even though it might not become famous HAHA.

Hope you'll enjoy this chapter! (:

P/S. You'll notice the change in how Kimi addresses Hitsugaya during normal times and during fights – this is because she usually becomes more serious when fighting and regards every opponent as an equal, thus she does not add prefixes to names. :D


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